Traditional Culture & Festivals
Fukui Prefecture has many temples and shrines as well as ruins and remains which tell us its long history and the changes in nature. You may learn how to visit and worship Shinto shrines in the traditional manners or experience the “Spirit of Zen” through Zazen (Zen meditation) and Shakyo (practice of sutra copying). You could also visit 450-years-old-or-so ruins of Sengoku period (Age of Civil War) in Samurai or princess costume, an original way to experience Japanese culture!

Sengoku-style Dressing Experience & Virtual Guide Experience

History Archive (at Tsuruga Museum)

Daihonzan Eiheiji Temple: The Taste of Zen Program

Zen Training Experience for Beginners - Zazen

Zen Training Experience for Beginners - Shakyo

Rakugo in English

Kimono Dressing Lesson & Walks in the City

Japanese Art Appreciation at Traditional Homestyle Café

Shichiken Morning Market

Learn How to Visit and Worship Shrines in the Traditional Manner

Zazen experience

Awara Geiko & Maiko Makeover Experience

Ozashiki-Asobi Experience

Tsuruga, International City of Railroad and Port and its Good Old Townscape Diorama

National Treasures Tour

Leaf peeping of Yokokan garden

Sengoku-style Dressing Experience & Virtual Guide Experience

You may visit Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins, a.k.a. "Pompei in Japan" in Samurai or Princess costume. You could also use the virtual guide with a tablet device to see a reproduction of the buildings of the past.

Address

28-37 Kidonouchichō, Fukui-shi

Closed day

12/28-1/4

Access

By Train: From Fukui Station, take Etsumi-Hoku Line, get off at "Ichijodani Station", then walk for 25 minutes.
By Car: 10-minute drive from Fukui IC on Route 158
By Bus: From Fukui Station, take Keifuku bus on Ichijodani-Togo route and get off at "Fukugenmachinami".

Daihonzan Eiheiji Temple: The Taste of Zen Program

You may apply to attend the Taste of Zen Program and have a taste of the Zen
practice followed by the monks at Eiheiji. The program provides an opportunity to
experience yourself anew through zazen ("sitting Zen). Within this program there are
two possibilities: one is to stay for about two hours for one period of zazen and a guided tour; another is to stay overnight, sit zazen in the evening and morning, enjoy a
traditional formal dinner and breakfast, see a film about Eiheiji, hear a dharma talk,
have a tour and participate in the morning service.
Foreign visitors intending to take part in the program, but who are not connected with a Soto Zen place of practice are kindly asked to contact Fukui Tour Guides Association (FTGA) for booking and inquiries (info@fukuitourguides.org). If you are connected
with a Soto Zen place of practice, please contact Daihonzan Eiheiji. The FTGA tour
guides are especially trained by the staff of Eiheiji Temple to facilitate visits by foreign guests.

Zen Training Experience for Beginners - Zazen

You may experience Zen training programs for beginners such as Zazen (Zen meditation) followed by Dokyo (sutra recitation) and Sarei (Zen-style tea ceremony) at the temple which used to be a part of Fukui Castle and then was relocated and reconstructed at the present place.

Address

5 Chome-10-17 Asuwa, Fukui-shi

Closed day

Access

15-bus ride from JR Fukui Station and then 3-minute walk from bus stop / 10-minute taxi ride from JR Fukui Station

Zen Training Experience for Beginners - Shakyo

You may experience Zen training programs for beginners such as Shakyo (practice of sutra copying) for about 1 hour followed by Sarei (Zen-style tea ceremony) at the temple which used to be a part of Fukui Castle and then was relocated and reconstructed at the present place.

Address

5 Chome-10-17 Asuwa, Fukui-shi

Closed day

Access

15-bus ride from JR Fukui Station and then 3-minute walk from bus stop / 10-minute taxi ride from JR Fukui Station

Rakugo in English

Trained as female Rakugo (comic story)-teller under Tsuyunomiyako - a master of Rakugo and a member of Kamigata Rakugo Association -, the landlady tells a Rakugo or a Kobanashi (short comical vignette) in English which lasts about 10 minutes. After her performance, you may get dressed in a Yukata (casual summer kimono), sit by the Kendai (bookrest) and the Hizakakushi (knee-hider), and take a picture with her. She then gives you a brief guide to tourist attractions in Fukui, enjoying tea and Japanese sweets (or local Sake) with you.

Address

3 Chome-7-16 Hōei, Fukui-shi

Closed day

Access

7-minute walk from JR Fukui Station

Hours

Estimated time required

30 minutes

Admission fee

1,400 yen

Operating seasons

Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter

Available languages

English

Credit cards

Accepted

Parking

5 free parking spaces

Note

Booking must be made by three days prior to your visit. The performance starts at 13:00.

Shichiken Morning Market

You may walk down the stone‐paved Shichiken Street, which has been hosting Shichiken Morning Market for more than four centuries, in a traditional atmosphere and get various local food and products of Oono city.

Zazen experience

Seidai-Ji Temple is an old temple especially known for its spacious precincts surrounded by great nature.
There is also the Greatest Buddha of Japan who has been passing on its everlasting history and its traditional beauty to one generation after another and now watches over us, leaving especially you to experience Zazen (Zen meditation) in a peaceful environment.

Awara Geiko & Maiko Makeover Experience

Dress up in a beautiful kimono as Maiko or Geiko of your dream and try their Taiko (drum) or Shamisen (Japanese guitar) performance for yourself!
Optionally, you can take a walk to visit inns, ask for photography services offered by professional photographers, or get some beauty treatments. (Excess charges will apply.)

Ozashiki-Asobi Experience

You can enjoy Ozashiki-Asobi (drinking games) with Ashihawa Geiko, known as "Flowers of Awara Hot Springs".
You may first learn about Teodori (dance with hand movements), Taiko (drum) performance, and Ozashiki-Asobi with Geisha, then try them for yourself.
This will be an entertaining way to know more about Ozashiki (traditional drinking party) manners without spending a fortune.

Tsuruga, International City of Railroad and Port and its Good Old Townscape Diorama

"Nostal(gic)-Diorama", the railroad and port diorama of 27 meters in the overall length and 7.5 meters in depth, depicts the townscape with steam and diesel-electric locomotives, switchback railroad - typical in Tsuruga - models, self-propelled ships and cars running in and around the town.

Address

4-1 Kanegasakichō, Tsuruga-shi

Closed day

Wednesday (if a national holiday falls on Wednesday, it is closed on the previous day/Thursday); the year end and the New Year days (Dec. 2９-Jan. 2)

Access

By Train: From JR Tsuruga Station, take Gurutto Tsuruga Round-trip bus and get off at "Kanegasaki Ryokuchi Park" (16-minute ride) / By Car: 10-minute drive from Tsuruga IC

Leaf peeping of Yokokan garden

You can fully enjoy leaf peeping in Yokokan garden which has circuit style garden representative of the Edo era and wooden buildings constructed with shoin-zukuri style, a traditional style of Japanese residential architecture. Strolling around this garden will make you feel as if you were a feudal lord of the Edo era. This Japanese garden is lit up in the night in fall.

Address

3-11 Hoei, Fukui-shi

Closed day

Open 7 days a week except from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4

Access

15-minute walk from JR Fukui Station / 15-minute drive from Fukui Kita IC through National Route 416 and Osensui Street

Hours

9 am to 7 pm (March 1 to Nov. 5) (entry by 6:30 pm)
9 am to 5 pm (Nov. 6 to the end of Feb.) (entry by 4:30 pm)